A tale of colour and water

The Omani Society for Fine Arts (OSFA) of the Diwan of Royal Court launched on Monday the personal exhibition for the artist Fahad al Mamari.
The exhibition entitled “A Tale of Colour and Water” recites the story of watercolours in the life of the artist since he was a child.
The story started in 2003 when al Mamari received a professional training with some experts in the field, where he acquired several ideas and techniques on the use of watercolours. The exhibit, with Al Mamari’s thirty-five paintings, summarise the artist’s experience on watercolourpainting.
The exhibition was launched under the patronage of Nasr al Kindi, the Secretary-General of Royal Court Affairs in the headquarters of OSFA.
The first photo exhibited tells the whole story and the starting point of al Mamari, the “Village”, where he was first inspired by nature, calmness and beauty. For him, this image is an absolute success.
Other pictures showcase the historical, natural and urban features in Oman.
The natural scenes were carefully selected by the artist to make the visitors wander with his thinking in the scenic places in the Sultanate. The scenes take the visitor from the simple life at villages to the high mountains, wide farms and blue oceans and skies.
From the simple life of Wilayat of al Rustaq, the hometown of the artist, al Mamari moves the visitors to the historical al Rustaq castle and the crowd of people in the traditional markets; then to Al Jabal al Akhdhar, Khour Atana in Musandam, and finally to Wakkan village in Nakhal.
Watercolour painting is extremely old, dating perhaps to the cave paintings of Paleolithic Europe, but it is the most complicated technique in painting.
“The selection of old scenes in the era of development is to show that Oman is a land of originality, the thing that many countries lack”, Fahad explains. Some of the other charming paintings by the artist are the sunrise, the Al Hazm castle after rains, portrays of old people, boats on the shores, camel races, and traditional souqs.
Photos by Khalfan al Ruzaiqi